First three weeks in Guatemala

Hola todas! 

So much has happened since I've been here, so I guess I will just jump right in.  I left for Washington DC on January 4, 2011.  Leaving everyone in Minneapolis was nearly impossible.  Once I got through security and on my own I had to tell myself , "I got this".  We had staging in DC for about a day.  Nothing too exciting.  We started our departure at 3 am on Jan 5th.  The first flight I slept like a baby the entire way, the second flight not so much.  The nerves of everything took over my body.  I think while we were landing I really realized what I had gotten myself into. 

We stayed in Sainta Lucia Milpas Altas for three days.  I lived with a nice family and two other volunteers.  I had two brothes and one sister.  This is when I realized that Guatemalan babies are far cuter than any children in the states.  We had spanish testing, tech training introductions, safety training, and the start to our weekly shots.  After three days we were taken to our communities were I am now living for another two months.  I live in a beautiful little town, Parramos.  It is very flat but muy tranquillo.  There are mountains all around and I can see two volcanos from my window.  I feel safe in Parramos, which is nice considering Guatemala is really dangerous.  I live with my brother, Edwardo, and my mom (you have not been replaced mom, you're still number one) Delfina.  Delfina just got her second to last tooth removed yesterday.  Poor thing. During the week the house is quiet, which I LOVE.  On the weekends the whole family comes over and I play with the chilren all day long, which I love too.  They are very sweet and they try and make me feel as comfortable as possible. 

Training is instense.  At first I thought it was easy and I loved being so busy and having Spanish class all the time.  Now by the end of the day my mind is, pretty much, moosh.  It is really draining, but I do enjoy it.  PC tells us that we are working 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  This is true.  We are slowly starting to learn what we are going to be doing once we are sworn in as PC volunteers.  I think I will be good at my job, I just wish I was fluent already.  Every day I am surprised at how strict PC is.  I was told the other day to brush my hair...you guys are probably not surprised, but I was.  I don't think my hair is understood down here.  Guatemalans have straight thin hair and my hair...is not that.  I laugh thinking about it though because they haven't seen anything yet.  When the rainy season starts who knows what they will say about my hair.  I try to laugh whenever I want to argue.  Somethings here are just so ridiculous all you can do is laugh.

 Everyone told me you make life long friends in the Peace Corps.  After three weeks I realize that this is true.  We are all thrown into this crazy situation together, and we gotta tough it out together.  Living in such a poverty stricken area forces you to become really close with the other volunteers, quickly.  When I think about the things I have talked about with these girls, I just laugh because we have only known eachother for such a short amount of time.  Its comforting to know that I am surrounded by so many great people. 

I don't really know what else to say at this point.  I hope everything is great at home and there isn't too much snow.  I heard it was about -30 degrees the other day.  The weather here is much better...thats all I'll say on that.  I love you all so much and I wouldn't be here without you.  I will try and update this as much as possible.  I could see myself doing this once and then forgetting about it, but I will try my hardest.

~BESOS~

Margarita